HSK 5 · Function Words

反而 fǎn'ér “on the contrary” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 反而 means

  1. on the contrary
  2. instead

How to say 反而

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale反fǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale而ér2nd tone, rising

反而 in a sentence

  1. 她不仅没责怪他，反而称赞他。

    Tā bùjǐn méi zéguài tā, fǎn'ér chēngzàn tā.

    Not only didn’t she blame him, she actually praised him.

    Sentence #2342830 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 发泄很少改善我的情绪，反而经常使它更糟。

    Fāxiè hěn shǎo gǎishàn wǒ de qíngxù, fǎn'ér jīngcháng shǐ tā gèng zāo.

    Venting rarely improves my mood; it often makes it worse.

    Sentence #12615476 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 反而 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 反 (fǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
反fǎncontrary
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 又again · yòu
The character 而 (ér) drawn as one shape
而érand

而 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a beard. Today it links ideas: and, but.

How to write 反而

反 4 strokes · 而 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

反而 (fǎn'ér) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 反而 (fǎn'ér). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 反而

Words with 反

反对fǎnduì · to oppose相反xiāngfǎn · opposite反映fǎnyìng · to reflect反应fǎnyìng · to react违反wéifǎn · to violate (a law)反复fǎnfù · repeatedly反正fǎnzhèng · anyway反驳fǎnbó · to refute反思fǎnsī · to reflect on反问fǎnwèn · to ask a rhetorical question

Words with 而

而且érqiě · moreover而ér · and然而rán'ér · however从而cóng'ér · thus因而yīn'ér · therefore时而shí'ér · sometimes而已éryǐ · that’s all进而jìn'ér · and then侃侃而谈kǎnkǎn'értán · to speak with ease and confidence锲而不舍qiè'érbùshě · to persevere

More words: Function Words & Grammar

顿dùn · measure word for meals朵duǒ · measure word for flowers and clouds多亏duōkuī · thanks to嗯ǹg · uh-huh反复fǎnfù · repeatedly反正fǎnzhèng · anyway仿佛fǎngfú · as if非fēi · to not be

FAQs

反而 (fǎn’ér) means “on the contrary” or “instead”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it fǎn’ér: fǎn with a 3rd tone, then ér with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 反而 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type faner with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 反而 from the suggestions. Typing faner into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
反而 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.